According to HealthDay (2/14, Mozes), after spending “decades tracking the onset of dementia among nearly 21,000 U.S. seniors,” investigators found that “seniors who, as kids, were educated in states that generally had shorter school years, larger classes, and lower attendance rates had a higher risk for dementia after age 65, compared with seniors raised in states offering a ‘high quality’ education, meaning more school days, smaller classes and better attendance.” The findings were published online in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Poorer Schools Could Bring Higher Dementia Rates Many Decades Later “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, February 14, 2023

According to the New York Times (2/14, Alcorn), new research “adds to the evidence that people who binge-drink may benefit from taking a dose of the medication naltrexone before consuming alcohol.” In the “randomized,” double-blinded study, the findings of which were “published in December in the American Journal of Psychiatry,” a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, “120 men who wanted to reduce bingeing but were not severely dependent on alcohol were given naltrexone to take whenever they felt a craving for alcohol or anticipated a period of heavy drinking.” At “the end of the 12-week study, those given naltrexone reported bingeing less frequently and consuming less alcohol than those who had been given a placebo, a change that lasted for up to six months.”

Related Links:

— “Binge Drinking May Be Curbed With a Pill “Ted Alcorn, The New York Times, February 14, 2023

Reuters (2/14, Bektas) reports, “Doctors in a Turkish field hospital in the southern city of Iskenderun said they are treating increasing numbers of patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks after last week’s earthquake.” Indian Army Major Beena Tiwari said, “Initially the patients…were those who sustained injuries under the rubble,” but “now more of the patients are coming with post-traumatic stress disorder, following all the shock that they’ve gone through during the earthquake and what they have seen.” A Turkish medical official stated, “People only now are starting to realise what happened to them after this shock period.”

Related Links:

— “Following Earthquake, Physicians Say They Are Treating Increasing Number Of Patients At Turkish Hospitals Suffering From PTSD “Umit Bektas, Reuters, February 14, 2023

NBC News (2/13, Collier) reports “sensitive mental health data is for sale by little-known data brokers, at times for a few hundred dollars and with little effort to hide personal information such as names and addresses, according to research” conducted at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. The research “consisted of asking 37 data brokers for bulk data on people’s mental health.” Eleven data brokers “agreed to sell information that identified people by issues, including depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, and often sorted them by demographic information such as age, race, credit score and location.” The researchers did not purchase “the data, but in many cases received free samples to prove that the broker was legitimate.”

Related Links:

— “A researcher tried to buy mental health data. It was surprisingly easy ” Kevin Collier, NBC News, February 13, 2023

Psychiatric News (2/13) reports, “Patients with mental illness who receive services delivered by individuals with lived experience of mental illness (peer support services) may experience greater personal recovery (for example, life satisfaction and hopefulness) than those patients who do not receive peer support services,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 49-trial systematic review and meta-analysis that “included 12,477 patients with a range of conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.” The findings were published online Feb. 8 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Life Outlook Improves When Patients Work With Peers, Meta-Analysis Suggests, Psychiatric News, February 13, 2023

The New York Times (2/13, Ghorayshi, Rabin) reports, “Nearly three in five teenage girls felt persistent sadness in 2021, double the rate of boys, and one in three girls seriously considered attempting suicide, according to data” (PDF) released Feb. 13 by the CDC. These “findings, based on surveys given to teenagers across the country, also showed high levels of violence, depression and suicidal thoughts among lesbian, gay and bisexual youth.” The CDC report found that “more than one in five of these students reported attempting suicide in the year before the survey.”

The Washington Post (2/13, A1, St. George) reports, “In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association together declared ‘a national state of emergency’ in children’s mental health,” and “a year later, the organizations sounded the alarm again.”

According to Healio (2/13, Weldon), the survey data also revealed that “in all categories…girls fared worse than their male peers in 2021, with…14% reporting ever being forced to have sex – a statistic that Kathleen Ethier, PhD, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, called ‘truly alarming.’”

Also covering the story are USA Today (2/13, Rodriguez), Reuters (2/13, Srinivasan), and NBC News(2/13, Edwards).

Related Links:

— “CDC: Teen girls experiencing record level of sadness, hopelessness “Rose Weldon, Healio, February 13, 2023

NBC News (2/11, Carroll) reported “a handful of factors, such as education, income and job type, may increase the likelihood that people in their mid-50s will still be mentally sharp,” according to “an analysis of data from more than 7,000 U.S. adults” who “were 54 to 65 years old in 1996 and then 20 years later.” The results published in PLOS One “showed that these factors could explain nearly 40% of the differences in the amount of cognitive ability people had lost by age 54.” According to researchers, “education, in particular whether a person had finished college, made the biggest difference in cognitive abilities such as memory, judgment and focus.”

Related Links:

— “Education may be the best way to protect against cognitive decline, new research suggests “Linda Carroll, NBC News, February 11, 2023

ABC News (2/11, Livingston) reported, “In the six months since the launch of the national, government-backed 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, contact and answer rates have risen dramatically, while the average speed to answer has dropped,” data released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) revealed. The SAMHSA data found that “371,655 people contacted the lifeline in December, compared to 260,095 in December 2021.”

Related Links:

— “988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline expands capacity, access in 6 months since launch “Kelly Livingston, ABC News, February 11, 2023

HCPlive (2/10, Walter) reported, “A family history of major depression can drastically increase the individual risk of developing major depression,” researchers concluded in a cohort study that “examined data for all Danish citizens born between 1960-2003 with known parental identity followed up from their 15th birthday until the time of major depression, censoring, or December 31, 2018.” The study revealed that “exposure to maternal, paternal, or full sibling major depression was associated with a two-fold higher risk of major depression…for men specifically,” and “the associated risk increased with the number of affected family members.” The study also found “a similar pattern…in women.” The findings were published online Feb. 8 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Family History Affects the Individual Risk of Major Depression “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, February 10, 2023

Healio (2/10, Firment) reported, “Most Americans value the impact of their friends, family and social connections on their mental health,” according to the findings of the latest Healthy Minds Monthly survey, conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Included in the survey were responses from 2,200 adults. In a Feb. 8 news release, APA President Rebecca W. Brendel, MD, JD, said, “It is encouraging to see that many Americans recognize the importance of maintaining healthy relationships. … It is one of the most mentally healthy things we can do, for ourselves and the people in our lives.” APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, stated, “We need the people in our lives that listen to us, can cheer us on and can provide comfort when things go wrong.”

Related Links:

— “Americans value social connections, friendships for mental health “Hunter Firment, Healio, February 10, 2023